After losing Remigio Leal and Jorge Balboa to Italian Baseball League teams, and William Domero to CB SANT BOI, the FC BARCELONA is strengthening the depth of the roster with two Division de Honor proven players. Outfielder Jehan G. Machado and catcher Orlando Diaz are coming from the local rivals VILADECANS and SANT BOI.
Machado is from Venezuela and is playing in Spain since nine years. Before signing with VILADECANS last winter, he spent eight seasons with SANT BOI. Now he is going to the third Division de Honor club from the Barcelona-area. He batted .180 (OBP .255/SLG .202) with five runs scored and 13 RBIs in 28 games for the seventh-ranked club in 2008. In 2007 he had a line of .259/.350/.269 for SANT BOI.
Diaz showed a strong arm behind the plate during the 2008 campaign, when he threw out ten base runners in 19 stolen base attempts. He had a batting average of .232 (.362/.256) with 15 runs scored and ten RBIs in 27 games. He usually caught one of the two games each weekend and played the other in the outfield.
BARCELONA is still looking to replace Leal and Balboa on the pitching staff, but is hopeful do so successfully. The 2009 season in Spain starts on March 14th. The FCB is also playing in the European Cup, slotted into the group with CORENDON KINHEIM (NED), T&A SAN MARINO (SMA), FORTITUDO BOLOGNA (ITA), TEMPLIERS SENART (FRA) and AVG DRACI BRNO (CZE), which plays in Southern Italy (host TBA) from March 30th to April 4th.